The Michelson 20MM Foundation is seeking letters of interest for the Digital Equity Spark Grants.
Donor Name: Michelson 20MM Foundation
State: California
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 06/11/2024
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: Grant Duration Not Mentioned
Details:
Digital Equity Funding Cycle Focus Areas
- Eliminating Digital Discrimination: Efforts that help address the impact that low-quality and/or unaffordable Internet has in areas that may superficially appear to have Internet access, and provide tools to combat digital discrimination and to promote equitable access to broadband throughout California. By focusing on the role of race in the historical causes of digital equity, they seek to grow awareness and uplift the voices and needs of underserved communities that have been deliberately excluded from connectivity by systematic redlining and disinvestment. These may include but are not limited to:
- Efforts that highlight disparities in broadband access
- Research that addresses mapping shortcomings at the state level
- Storytelling, surveying, testimonial-gathering
- Digital Equity in Tribal Communities: Projects that help Tribal communities bridge the digital divide and achieve digital sovereignty. This may include but isn’t limited to:
- Digital Equity Research & Education (i.e.: Research on the impact of digital inequity on Tribal communities, digital equity best practices, and more)
- Community Capacity-building
- Broadband Infrastructure Workforce Development
- Policy Advocacy and Civic Engagement: Efforts that increase civic participation in digital equity policy-making and regulatory processes at the local, regional, or state-level (including the education of state policy-makers on key digital equity issues). This may include efforts focusing on education, capacity-building, and the equitable implementation of digital equity policy
- Digital Equity as a Social Determinant of Health: Efforts that address digital inequity through its impact as a social determinant of health, and that can be a promising practice to be scaled across the state. Efforts that bridge the digital divide in at least one of the following issue areas:
- Higher Education (i.e.: Research on the impact of digital inequity on college students)
- Healthcare/Public Health (i.e.: Equitable access to digital healthcare)
- Economic Opportunity (i.e.: Workforce Development; equitable access to seeking, applying, and securing jobs)
- Civic Engagement (i.e.: Access to public benefits)
- Digital Equity and Artificial Intelligence (AI): Projects that aim to ensure communities that have been historically underinvested have access to and are prepared to take advantage of technological advancements in AI for full participation in the society, as well as projects that are aimed at increasing transparency and equity in the use and development of AI tools.
Funding Information
Michelson 20MM Foundation will be awarding grants up to $25,000 to nonprofits and educational institutions.
Grant Criteria
- Michelson 20MM Foundation will not be funding initiatives that provide direct assistance to students during this Michelson Spark Grant round (e.g. laptops or hotspots for remote learning). While they realize there is a tremendous need in the communities for this type of direct support, they are leveraging the funding to effect broader systemic change at this time.
- For this funding cycle, Michelson 20MM Foundation will focus on organizations that are doing work in California.
- Given the size and scope of digital inequity and the complexity of securing adequate funding for programs and initiatives to fully address the issue, they welcome proposals where Michelson Spark Grant funds are part of a larger overall project with multiple funding streams.
For more information, visit Michelson 20MM Foundation.
